Base stations are known in the art. Base stations typically serve as a point of attachment and connection as between a communications network on the one hand and one or more end-user platforms on the other hand. In many cases, a given base station has a plurality of wireless communication resources that can be used to support such communications. In some cases, some or all of those wireless communication resources are shared with other base stations. When base stations that share such resources have overlapping service areas it can become more important to ensure that the use of such resources occurs without undue interference.
Some network architectures are potentially more susceptible to issues of this kind. For example, some architectures provide for so-called macrocell base stations that provide service to a relatively large coverage area (often measured in square miles) as well as so-called femtocell base stations that provide service to a relatively small coverage area (often measured in tens or hundreds of meters). Generally speaking, though such base stations may all share, at least to some extent, some plurality of wireless communication resources, the resources of the macrocell base station are open to a relatively large and open group of end users (such as all registered users of a cellular telephony service provider such as AT&T or Verizon) while the resources of the femtocell base station are open to only a relatively small and closed group of end users (such as only the members of a given family that reside at a given home).
In such cases, the operations of the femtocell base station and its users are restricted (for example, by law or regulation) from interfering with the operations of the macrocell base station and its users. Unfortunately, in many cases macrocell-base-station users generate large uplink interference for femtocell-base-station users. Similarly, in many cases macrocell-base-station users will experience large downlink interference from the femtocell base station itself.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. It will also be understood that the terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.